Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1887-04-27
SOME SUGGESTIONS
Regarding the Mansgementofthe HospitaI
for the Insane.

Tor the lhsstic'
To me Editor Of he Register.
Those of your readers who, without
prejudice, have paid attention to the re-
ports of Special Committees, appointed by
the Legislature and the Governor, to in
vestigate the management Of the Hospital
for the Insane, at Weston, and the personal
communications and elimination and re-
elimination to your columns from Hon.
.Toseph Sprigg and DIR. VIM. J. Bland, the
Superintendent OF the Hospital, must have
been that something IS surely
wrong, chargeable either to
the principle on which the affairs OF the IN
stitution are administered, or to the Super
intendent, or to both.
Charitable views viii make the law
governing the institution the chief factor
Of mismanagemeut aud local dlScord.
What are the facts? Here is an institution
that abSorbs for its tuppOrt one-tourth OF
the entire revenue of the State; and the
chief medical officer-the Superintendent
is not only the discussing officer Of this
large sum of money, but he is held hrst re-
spOnsible for the medical care of probably
700 patients. Now, it is admitted, as a
rule, the world over, that the greater
the physician, the greater the lawyer, and
the greater the divine, the poorer
his financial ability; yet the Legislature
has deemed union of these two powers
"a learned, skillful physician and alienlst,
and an expert fiuancier-tO be common
endowment of the West Virginia citizen.
:, no
planned of? The system should be changed
The medical management should be en-
tirely divorced from the financial, or pure
! ly business management, and the medical
superintendent and his assistants thus en-
abled TO devote their entire energies to the
States most pitiable wards-the patients
committed to their charge.
The Legislature, in its wisdom, has
/ deemed another asylum, located at some
other point, necessary to meet the wants
/ of the State, and special committee has
made the rounds of various counties IN
search of proper location for duplica-
ture, on somewhat smaller scale, OF the
| Weston Asylum. Such provision for the
durable insane is unnecessary, and the
proposition TO build another asylum
should be Mt once discouraged, and
for these reasons: There are three classes
of patients cared for at WestOn-the cura-
| BILE insane. the idiotic insane and the
| epileptic insane. the two latter, of course,
constituting the HcWrdbis insane. To accom-
MEDIATE these last named One-StOry an
mex should he erected on the States
/ ground at Weston, and the medical care
| of these inCurable left rs now, 10 the pres
ent medical officers. By such proposed
wedding out Of the incurables from the
durable insane, ample accommodate
tions would be ut once afforded to
meet the damandS for the
durable insane for the next - or 80 years,
aud thus the State would be saved many
thousands of dollars annually. But the
reform should not end by the mere divorce
ment OF the medical management from the
financial responsibility and refusal to locate
and erect another Asylum for the
Insane. There are four State in,
situations the Hospital, at WeS-
ton, the Penitentiary, at MOundsvilie
the Institute for the Blind and Deaf at
Romney, and the University ut Morgan
town. To supervise and administer the
purely business affairs of these four public
institutions, the Legislature in joint SEES
sion should appoint three persons to con
stitue a State Board Of Pablo Charities
with a sufficient salary per annum, who's,
duty it should be to visit each Of
these institutions quarterly, to provide
necessary supplies, both by contract and
purchase, audit all bills, rs regularly n,
every three months, make return OF then
proceedings to the Governor. by such :
business like system, probably 100000 OF
SO, 600 would he annually saved to tn,
Treasury Of the STAGE; the local scramble
for offices would cease, and with it, too
old local jealouSieS. or the never ending OF
fight between the ms aud the outs; anC
the officers would command far more gen
eral respect than ut present.
/ have not Mt my command statement
of the expenses incurred by Boards of Di
rectOrs and Boards of Visitors, rs they are
seyerally called, OF the different public in
institutions of West Virginia, but it is safe
to say that the cost of maintaining sucl
more ornamental than useful bodies o.
political fayOrites, and the qualification O
local OF home rule p will foot up annual
" several thousand dollars.
These suggestions are given for wha'
they are merely this and nothing
more" WHEELING.